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THE  NEW 


ANACONDA 


TugeneMeyerJr&Co. 


Walt  Street 

Jfetv 


THE  NEW 


ANACONDA 


Ti,ugeneMeyerJr.&Co. 

14    Wall  Street 


July,  1916 


1 


COPYRIGHT,  1916, 
EUGENE  MEYER  JR.  &  CO. 


The  information  and  data  contained  in  the 
following  pages  are  the  result  of  careful  inves- 
tigations by  us.  While  we  cannot  guarantee 
the  correctness  of  the  statements  and  figures, 
we  have  secured  them  from  sources  which 
we  believe  to  be  reliable. 

EUGENE  MEYER  JR.  &  Co. 
New  York,  July  14,  1916. 


340707 


Compressed  air  drill  in  operation  in  one  of  Anaconda's  mines.  This  shows  the  fundamental 
operation  in  mining— the  starting-point  of  the  Company's  vast  business.  All  of  the  wealth  vhlch 
Anaconda  has  produced  has  had  its  origin  In  the  ore  drilled  and  blasted  as  shown  here. 


THE    NEW  ANACONDA 

For  more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  the  group  of  mines  now  owned  by  Anaconda 
has  produced  more  copper  and  more  silver,  far  and  away,  than  any  other  district  in 
the  world;  it  has  produced  nearly  one-third  of  all  the  copper  mined  in  the  United 
States  during  the  past  third  of  a  century,  and  nearly  one-sixth  of  all  the  copper 
mined  in  the  world;  it  has  outdone  such  famous  mines  as  Rio  Tinto  and  Calumet 
&  Hecla  during  this  long  period,  by  a  ratio  of  almost  three  to  one. 

It  is  not  in  the  past,  however,  that  the  chief  interest  in  this  great  property 
centers — it  is  rather  in  Anaconda's  present  and  Anaconda's  future — a  present  and  a 
future  which  promise  to  rival  even  the  extraordinary  record  of  Anaconda's  past. 


Anaconda  is  mining,  reducing,  and  marketing  today  at  the  rate  of  330,000,000 
pounds  of  copper  annually — approximately  one-fourth  of  the  copper  produced  in 
the  United  States,  and  one-seventh  of  the  copper  produced  in  the  whole  world; 
in  addition,  it  is  refining  and  selling  the  mined  product  of  other  companies,  in 
some  of  which  it  has  part  ownership  to  the  extent  of  240,000,000  pounds;  thus 
making  a  grand  total  of  570,000,000  pounds  of  copper — more  than  one-third  of  all 
the  copper  product  of  the  United  States  and  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  total  copper 
production  of  the  world — which  it  treats  and  markets. 

Anaconda,  besides  its  copper,  is  producing  annually,  13,000,000  ounces  of 
silver,  150,000  ounces  of  gold;  is  smelting  and  refining  at  its  custom  plants  an 
additional  4,000,000  ounces  of  silver  and  100,000,000  pounds  of  lead;  it  will,  within 
a  few  months,  be  producing  at  the  rate  of  70,000,000  pounds  per  annum  of  high- 
profit  zinc. 

*•***•• 

As  a  result  of  the  increase  in  the  industrial  importance  of  copper,  the  past  few 
years  have  seen  marked  advances,  generally,  in  mining  and  reduction  processes. 
The  ever  growing  demand  has  furnished  incentive  to  perfect  methods  of  treating 
low-grade  copper  ores  which  never  had  been  treated  profitably  before. 

AVith  the  discovery  of  new  methods  and  the  opening  of  new  low-grade  mines, 
public  interest,  during  the  past  few  years,  has  been  largely  drawn  toward  properties 
of  the  type  commonly  designated  as  Porphyries. 

Interest  in  this  new  type  of  copper  mine  has  been  well  founded,  for  these 
properties  have  demonstrated  beyond  question  or  doubt  their  status  as  economical 
producers  of  copper. 

Too  great  credit  cannot  be  given  to  the  enterprising,  courageous  managers 
and  backers  of  these  properties;  without  their  daring  foresight  and  patient  work 
the  price  of  copper  might  permanently  have  ruled  so  high  as  to  retard,  seriously, 
the  rapidly  growing  application  of  electricity  in  all  departments  of  life.  Their 
achievements,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  an  important  step  in  the  march  of 
civilization,  because,  today,  electrical  development  measures  the  pace  of  civilization. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  the  eyes  and  the  minds  of  the  industrial  world  should 
have  been  centered  on  these  new  and  great  properties,  to  the  exclusion,  almost,  of 
every  other  copper  interest. 

It  is  equally  natural,  likewise,  that  the  quiet  and  gradual  revolution  being 
brought  about  in  the  Anaconda  property  during  the  past  few  years  should  have 
escaped  general  attention. 

1 


Yet  developments  as  great  and  as  important  as  the  development  of  new 
properties,  have  been  brought  to  a  successful  head  in  Anaconda. 

Few  realize  that,  in  spite  of  the  remarkable  progress  of  the  Porphyry  group, 
Anaconda  at  the  present  time  is  producing  each  month  twice  as  much  copper  as  the 
great  Utah  Copper  Company;  and  that  it  produces  monthly  considerably  more 
than  one-half  as  much  copper  as  Utah,  Inspiration,  Nevada,  Ray,  Chino,  Miami, 
Chile  and  Braden,  together. 

******* 

Only  those  who  have  followed  it  closely,  know  of  the  transformation  which  has 
been  wrought  in  Anaconda;  and  few  realize  that  a  new  Anaconda  has  been  brought 
into  being,  which  promises  to  outdo  the  old  Anaconda  as  the  old  Anaconda  has  out- 
done all  of  the  other  mines  of  the  world. 

With  the  consolidation  in  1910 — by  which  the  old  Anaconda,  the  Boston  & 
Montana,  the  Butte  &  Boston,  the  Parrot  Silver  &  Copper,  and  a  number  of  other 
properties  in  the  Butte  district  were  unified — the  basis  was  laid  for  the  New  Ana- 
conda. It  was  the  consolidation  of  these  various  properties  into  one  great  com- 
pany which  permitted  and  warranted  the  vast  expenditure  which  has  been  gradu- 
ally made  during  the  past  few  years. 

The  recent  transformation  of  Anaconda  has  been  made  possible  partly  through 
the  development  of  the  Montana  Power  Company's  hydro-electric  power  and  its 
scientific  application  to  mining;  partly  through  the  invention  and  perfection  of 
new  metallurgical  processes. 

Not  only  will  Anaconda  from  now  on  be  a  greater  producer  than  ever  of  copper, 
silver,  and  gold,  but  it  promises,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  to  become  one  of 
the  world's  important  producers  of  zinc. 

The  changes  which  have  been  wrought  in  Anaconda  have  accomplished  three 
things : 

(1)  Increased  the  scale  of  operations; 

(2)  Prolonged  the  life  of  the  property; 

(3)  Increased  the  annual  profit  from  operations; 

(a)  By  increasing  the  proportion  of  metals  recovered  from  the  ores; 

(b)  By  decreasing  the  cost  of  production. 

******* 

The  work  of  developing  processes  and  properties  in  a  company  like  the  Ana- 
conda never  ceases;  but  the  present  moment  seems  to  signalize  the  fruition  of  years 
of  interesting  and  important  work;  and  it  is  therefore  deemed  an  opportune  time 
to  review  the  progress  of  the  company. 


ANACONDA   ELECTRIFIED 

In  mining  and  metallurgical  operations  one  of  the  principal  factors  is  power; 
power  to  operate  the  drills;  power  to  transport  the  ores  through  the  tunnels  to  the 
shafts ;  power  to  hoist  them  to  the  surface ;  power  to  transport  them  to  the  smelters ; 
power  to  crush  them ;  power  to  separate  the  metals  from  the  valueless  portions  of  the 
ores;  power  to  refine  the  metals;  power  to  pump  the  water  from  the  lowest  levels 
of  the  mines,  and  the  water  needed  for  metallurgical  purposes;  power  to  perform 
every  possible  operation  in  a  manner  that  will  save  labor,  speed  up  production 
and  reduce  costs. 

In  the  early  years  of  its  operation,  Anaconda  depended  upon  steam  power, 
man  power  and  mule  power;  steam  power  for  hoisting,  transportation  and  pumping, 
and  for  compressed  air  for  the  drills;  man  power  and  mule  power  for  bringing  the 
ores  through  the  underground  workings  of  the  mines  to  the  hoisting  shafts. 

Gradually  its  steam  power  was  centralized  and  improved.  Large  air  compress- 
ing plants,  operated  by  steam  engines,  furnished  compressed  air  as  power  not  only 
for  the  operations  of  the  drills  underground  but  also  for  hoisting  and  other  purposes 
on  the  surface. 

Anaconda  produced  its  steam  power  under  conditions  by  no  means  unfavorable. 
It  owned  its  own  coal  properties  near  Great  Falls,  Montana,  near  Billings,  Montana, 
and  in  the  Diamond  Fields,  Wyoming;  the  coal  was  of  fair  quality,  and  transporta- 
tion costs  to  Butte  were  not  excessive.  Yet  even  under  such  favorable  conditions  of 


ELECTRIC  PUMP  ON  THE  1800  FOOT  LEVEL  OF  THE  TRAMWAY  MINE 

Six  million  pounds  of  copper  are  recovered  annually  from  the  waters  pumped  from  Anaconda's  mines. 
The  copper  so  recovered,  at  normal  prices  of  the  metal,  returns  a  small  profit  over  the  entire  cost  of  pump- 
ing the  water  from  the  properties,  and,  of  course,  at  the  present  prices,  a  very  handsome  return. 

* 


coal  supply  there  is  a  limit  to  which  the  cost  of  steam  power  can  be  reduced,  and 
that  limit  is  by  no  means  a  low  one;  and  steam  power  lacks  the  flexibility  needed  in 
power  for  mining  and  milling  operations.  There  is  necessarily  difficulty  in  pro- 
ducing economically  small  quantities  at  isolated  stations;  transmission  of  power 
either  by  steam  or  by  compressed  air  involves  a  serious  loss  through  friction  or 
through  changes  in  temperature;  and  in  countless  ways  steam  falls  far  short  in 
producing  an  ideal  source  of  power  for  mining  and  metallurgical  operations. 

The  ideal  power  supply  for  Anaconda,  it  was  long  ago  recognized,  would  be 
electricity;  electricity  which  can  be  carried  to  any  point,  with  but  infinitesimal 
loss  of  power,  with  minimum  investment  in  transmission  facilities,  involving  only 
stringing  of  wires  instead  of  laying  pipes;  a  flexible  supply  of  power,  available  at 
any  point  for  all  operations  at  the  throwing  of  a  switch. 


In  former  years  the  ores  at  Anaconda  were  transported  through  the  workings  of  the  mines  by  men 
and  mules.  In  the  New  Anaconda,  electricity  has  been  made  to  do  all  of  this  tramming  at  a  marked 
saving,  both  In  time  and  expense. 

Anaconda  was  fortunate  in  its  earlier  years  in  that  the  foresight  of  its  founders 
had  secured  for  it  an  adequate  coal  supply;  but  it  was  still  more  fortunate,  as  the 
ever-increasing  scale  of  its  operations  demanded  more  power,  and  a  more  flexible 
power,  in  finding  even  nearer  at  hand  an  ample  natural  source  of  electric  power. 

In  Montana  the  streams  rise  in  the  mountains  at  elevations  of  5,000  feet 
to  8,000  feet.  These  streams  leave  the  State  line  at  elevations  of  2,400  feet  to  3,500 
feet.  Many  opportunities  were,  therefore,  presented  on  these  streams  for  the 
development  of  electric  power,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  natural  fall. 

Some  twenty -five  years  ago,  development  of  water  power  in  Montana  was  com- 
menced and  Anaconda  was  one  of  the  first  large  users.  Electric  transmission  was 
then  in  its  infancy,  and  only  a  minute  fraction  of  the  power  could  at  that  time!  be 
made  available.  By  1906,  the  development  of  electric  science  was  such  as  to  facili- 

4 


tate  great  strides  towards  carrying  power  from  distant  sources  to  points  of  consump- 
tion. From  that  time  on  a  number  of  hydro-electric  plants  were  constructed  by 
various  companies,  and  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  commenced  to 
electrify  its  operations  as  far  as  possible  from  the  scattered  power  developments 

available. 

\Yith  the  year  1910  began  a  new  era  in  Montana's  history,  for  m  that  year 
commenced  the  rounding-up,  interlacing  and  combining  of  water  powers,  which 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Montana  Power  Company  in  1913,  through  which 
practically  all  of  the  important  power  developments  of  this  State  were  welded 
together  into  one  immense  system. 

The  Montana  Power  Company  operates  a  series  of  hydro-electric  plants 
situated  along  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Missouri  River  and  its  tributaries.  Most 


A  typical  electric  train  of  ore  cars  In  the  mine  is  shown  here.     Each  electric  engine  handles  as  much 
as  twenty-four  men  formerly  handled  and  at  twice  the  speed. 

of  the  plants  are  so  situated  that  the  same  flow  of  water  is  used  over  and  over  again 
through  successive  dams  and  water  wheels  located  along  the  stream  in  steps  one 
below  the  other;  and  all  these  are  regulated  by  a  great  storage  reservoir  at  the  head- 
waters of  the  Madison  River,  one  of  the  principal  branches  of  the  Missouri. 

The  dams  and  transmission  lines  of  the  Montana  Power  Company,  ideally 
designed  to  supply  power  for  Anaconda's  needs,  are  tied  together  in  such  a  manner 
that,  in  the  event  of  failure  at  one  installation,  the  load  may  be  readily  taken  care  of 
with  current  from  other  points,  thus  insuring  a  service  far  more  reliable  even  than 
that  which  steam  could  offer. 

The  power  requirements  of  Anaconda  are  immense.  By  the  end  of  1916, 
Anaconda  will  be  using  in  mining,  hoisting,  pumping,  concentrating,  smelting, 
refining,  and  in  the  operations  of  the  railroad  which  transports  its  ores,  126,000 

5 


SCENE  AT  GREAT  FALLS— BEFORE  AND  AFTER 

The  upper  picture  shows  Great  Falls  before  copper  made  electricity  available  as  a  source  of  power. 
The  lower  picture  shows  Great  Falls  developed,  which  now  makes  copper  available  at  lower  costs  of  pro- 
duction. 


horse  power,  or  700,000,000  kilowatt  hours  annually — an  amount  of  current  50% 
in  excess  of  the  power  consumption  of  New  York  City's  underground  and  overhead 
rapid  transit  lines  in  Manhattan. 

No  individual  or  isolated  plants  could  warrant  Anaconda  in  equipping  entirely 
for  electrical  operations,  but  the  combination  of  all  available  powers  by  the  Mon- 
tana Power  Company  furnished  such  absolute  security  for  continuous  service  that 
complete  electrification  became  possible.  By  the  end  of  1915,  when  Anaconda's 
electrification  program  was  completed,  the  Montana  Power  Company  had  an 

6 


installed  capacity  of  172,800  horse  power;  with  plants  under  construction,  to  be 
completed  during  the  years  1916  and  1917,  an  additional  106,600  horse  power 
will  be  furnished;  undeveloped  water  powers,  now  held  in  reserve,  will  furnish, 
when  required,  162,000  additional  horse  power. 

It  has  been  this  great  consolidation  of  existing  water  powers  and  development 
and  control  of  new  ones  that  has  made  the  electrification  of  Anaconda  possible; 
and  Anaconda  buys  current  from  these  at  a  price  one-third  of  what  it  formerly  cost 
the  company  to  generate  its  own  power  by  steam. 

****** 

From  an  economical  standpoint,  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  has 
found  it  advantageous  to  centralize  many  of  its  operations  at  favorably  located 
points.  The  ore  mined  in  Butte,  for  example,  is  taken  for  treatment  to  Anaconda, 
a  distance  of  twenty-two  miles,  over  the  Butte,  Anaconda  and  Pacific  Railroad,  51% 
of  whose  stock  is  owned  by  the  company.  In  1913  the  steam  locomotives  formerly 


Anaconda's  ores  are  transported  from  Butte  to  Anaconda  over  the  Butte,  Anaconda  &.  Pacific  Rail- 
way, in  which  railway  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  is  a  controlling  shareholder.  The  railway 
is  now  completely  electrified  and  was  a  pioneer  in  this  improvement,  being  followed  by  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &.  St.  Paul  and  the  Norfolk  &  Western. 

operated  on  this  road  were  replaced  with  electric  engines  driven  by  power  from  the 
transmission  lines  of  the  Montana  Power  Company.  This  improvement  resulted  in 
an  immense  increase  in  capacity  with  a  great  reduction  in  operating  costs. 

The  electric  engines  now  in  use  on  the  Butte,  Anaconda  &  Pacific  handle  from 
sixty-five  to  seventy  fifty-ton  ore  cars  to  each  train,  as  against  fifty  of  the  same 
cars  formerly  handled  by  each  steam  locomotive,  in  addition  to  carrying  them  at 
greater  speed. 

In  proportion  to  their  weight,  it  is  found  that  the  electric  locomotives  do  twice 
the  work  that  the  steam  engines  were  capable  of,  cutting  labor  and  power  costs  in 
half,  besides  effecting  a  considerable  saving  in  repair  expenses.  In  money,  the 
electrification  of  the  railway  saves  almost  $200,000  a  year  at  the  present  rate  of 

7 


operations,  and  at  the  same  time  has  increased  the  amount  of  tonnage  which  the 
road  is  able  to  handle  without  increasing  the  trackage  facilities. 


Another  example,  illustrating  the  extent  to  which  electrification  has  been  one 
of  the  principal  factors  in  bringing  about  the  New  Anaconda,  is  to  be  found  at  the 
company's  refinery  at  Great  Falls,  Montana. 

As  early  as  1891  it  was  recognized  that  these  Falls  would  furnish  a  cheap  source 
of  electric  power,  which  is  so  large  an  item  in  the  electrolytic  copper  refining  process, 
and  a  copper  refinery  was  erected  immediately  beside  them. 

As  the  further  development  of  power  at  Great  Falls  made  available  power 
sufficiently  cheap  to  overcome  other  factors,  especially  labor,  making  for  cheaper 
costs  in  the  Eastern  refineries,  a  large  new  refining  plant  was  erected  at  Great  Falls 
during  the  year  1915.  The  old  refinery  here  had  a  capacity  of  60,000,000  pounds  of 
copper  annually;  the  new  one  is  of  the  most  modern  type,  and  has  a  capacity  of 
180,000,000  pounds  annually.  All  told,  the  Great  Falls  plant  is  now  refining  at  the 
rate  of  240,000,000  pounds  of  copper  annually  or  around  15%  of  the  entire  produc- 
tion of  the  United  States. 


Applied  to  all  the  power  needed  for  mining  reduction  and  transportation 
operations,  electrification  has  meant  a  saving  of  from  $3,500,000  to  $4,000,000 
annually,  as  against  what  could  be  done  with  steam  power  under  present  conditions 
and  at  the  present  rate  of  operation,  and  much  more  as  against  what  was  done 
with  the  isolated  steam  plants  in  use  before  electricity  was  substituted.  Applied  to 
the  present  rate  of  production,  this  means  a  saving  of  someAvhat  more  than  one 
cent  per  pound  in  the  cost  of  producing  copper. 


Everywhere  in  Anaconda's  vast  property,  electricity  is  doing  steam's  work 
better,  cheaper  and  more  reliably. 

But  if  Anaconda  owes  much  to  electricity,  electricity  on  the  other  hand  owes 
much  to  Anaconda. 

More  than  50%  of  all  the  copper  mined  in  the  world  is  manufactured  into 
electrical  equipment. 

Without  copper,  electricity  could  not  have  advanced  to  its  present  state;  and 
Anaconda  being  the  world's  greatest  producer  of  copper,  must  thus  be  credited  as  an 
important  influence  in  the  development  of  electricity. 

In  Anaconda's  early  history  there  were  no  hydro-electric  plants ;  the  production 
and  long-distance  transmission  of  power  was  only  a  vision. 

But  as  Anaconda,  chief  among  the  copper  mines  of  the  world,  produced  the 
material  needed  for  the  manufacture  and  transmission  of  electricity,  electricity,  in 
turn,  made  available  the  power  which  enables  Anaconda  now  to  enlarge  her  oper- 
ations and  reduce  her  costs.  \ 

The  very  copper  dug  out  of  Anaconda's  mines,  worked1  up  into  machinery  and 
instruments  and  miles  of  copper  wire,  now  enables  Anaconda  to  enjoy  the  cheapest, 
most  reliable  power  possible  to  produce,  whether  on  the  surface  or  a  half  mile 
underground,  merely  by  the  throwing  of  a  copper  switch. 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF 
ANACONDA'S  PROCESSES 

In  order  that  Anaconda's  chemical  and  mechanical  process-improvements  may 
be  made  clear,  the  nature  of  the  mining  operations  and  reduction  problems  will  be 
briefly  summarized. 

The  properties  owned  by  Anaconda  in  the  Butte  District  comprise  a  solid  block 
of  ground  running  two  miles  east  and  west  and  one  mile  north  and  south.  In  this 
block  some  twenty-six  separate  mines  are  located.  The  ores  occur  in  veins  of  from 
five  to  two  hundred  feet  in  width.  These  have  been  actually  developed  to  a  depth 
of  3,400  feet — and  are  known  to  extend  much  deeper — although  the  bulk  of  the  ore 
now  being  extracted  is  taken  from  above  the  2,400  foot  level. 


A  SCENE  IN  THE  CITY  OF  BUTTE 

Anaconda's  twenty-six  mines  are  located  in  a  solid  tract,  much  of  which  is  within  the  city  limits. 
The  large  headframe  marked  with  a  cross  is  that  of  the  Neversweat  shaft. 

The  mining  operation  consists  in  sinking  a  central  shaft  and  tunneling  out  the 
veins  of  ore. 

The  ore  itself  consists  of  rock,  carrying  sulphides  (together  with  a  percentage  of 
arsenides),  of  copper,  iron,  and  silver,  with  some  metallic  gold.  It  averages  around 
3%  copper  and  two  ounces  per  ton  in  silver;  although  in  many  cases  the  values 
are  materially  higher. 

The  ores,  as  hoisted  from  the  mine,  consist  of  irregular  pieces  of  broken  rock, 
most  of  which  are  under  one  cubic  foot  in  measurement. 

9 


The  first  operation,  once  the  ore  is  above  ground  and  at  the  mill,  is  to  crush  the 
irregular  pieces  of  ore,  in  jaw  crushers  and  by  roller  mills,  until  it  is  reduced  to  the 
fineness  of  sand. 

The  next  operation  involves  the  separation  of  the  metallic  sulphides  from  the 
quartz  and  clayey  material,  called  gangue,  which  comprises  the  bulk  of  the  ore. 

As  will  be  obvious,  it  is  cheaper  to  remove  as  much  as  possible  of  the  worthless 
gangue  before  subjecting  the  ore  to  the  comparatively  expensive  operation  of 
smelting. 

In  the  early  days  of  copper  mining  the  metal-bearing  sulphides  and  arsenides 
were  picked  out  of  the  ore  by  hand.  Later  it  was  found  that  by  washing  the  ore  in 
water  the  clayey  portions  could  be  floated  away,  and  the  heavier  metallic  portions 
which  were  desired  to  be  retained,  would  sink  to  the  bottom.  This  process,  the 
one  now  generally  in  use,  and  up  till  recently  the  only  practicable  process  known, 
is  called  water  concentration. 

Anaconda,  however,  has,  within  the  past  year,  added  a  new  process  in  con- 
centrating its  ores,  which,  in  fact,  consists  of  concentration  upside  down. 

This  process  involves  taking  the  coarser  particles  from  the  water  concentra- 
tion machines,  grinding  them  and  treating  them  with  acid  and  oil.  The  mixture  is 
then  agitated  by  revolving  propellers,  whereupon  the  oil  rises  to  the  surface  in  a 
froth,  carrying  with  it  the  finely  divided  metal  sulphides  and  arsenides  while  the 
lighter  gangue  material  sinks  to  the  bottom. 


A  View  in  the  Slime  Flotation  Plant 

An  idea  of  the  importance  of  this  single  new  method  may  be  gained  from  the 
fact  that  prior  to  1915  Anaconda  found  it  impracticable  to  separate  more  than 
eighty-two  per  cent,  of  the  copper  in  the  ore.  With  the  flotation  machines  installed, 
however,  the  recovery  of  copper  in  concentrates  has  been  increased  to  ninety-six 
per  cent.  After  allowing  for  all  later  losses  such  as  those  of  smelting,  converting, 
and  refining,  the  net  result  of  the  new  means  of  concentrating  is  that  the  final 

10 


recovery  of  copper  has  been  increased  from  seventy-seven  per  cent,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1915,  to  ninety  per  cent,  at  the  present  time. 

On  the  basis  of  ore  containing  three  per  cent,  copper,  this  increased  recovery, 
involving  slight  extra  expense,  represents  about  eight  pounds  of  additional  copper 
ner  ton  of  ore  treated,  with  proportional  increases  in  the  recovery  of  gold  and  silver. 

****** 

In  the  process  of  water  concentration  there  was  formerly  at  Anaconda  a  large 
loss  of  copper  in  what  are  known  as  the  slimes.    The  slimes  are  those  very  fine  parts 
of  the  crushed  ores  which,  because  of  their  fineness,  cannot  be  successfully  treate 
by  water  concentration.    By  weight  they  comprise  almost  one-fifth  of  the  original 
ore,  and  assay  approximately  2%  copper. 

The  recovery  of  copper  from  the  slimes  has,  in  former  years,  been  the  subject  o 
continuous  experimentation.    It  has  been  realized  almost  from  the  beginning  that 
these  slimes  might  eventually  be  capable  of  treatment,  and  they  have  accord- 
ingly been  run  off  into  large  slime  ponds  where  they  have  been  stored.    After  many 
efforts,  the  company's  metallurgists  finally  evolved  a  process  which  permitted 
recovery  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  copper  content  of  the  slimes— quite  success- 
fully    But  the  oil  flotation  process  has  solved  the  problem  completely;  by  means  o 
this  process  the  old  slime  accumulations  are  being  re-treated  with  a  recovery  . 
ninety  per  cent,  of  their  metal  content. 


Slime  Ponds  on  the  flat  below  Anaconda,  where  the  slimes  of  former  years  have  been  stored, 
metal  values  in  these  slimes  are  now  being  recovered  by  the  oil  flotation  process. 

The  accumulation  of  slimes  of  former  years  now  amounts  to  about  700,000 
tons;  this  is  being  worked  over  at  the  rate  of  about  1,000  tons  a  day. 

At  this  rate  the  operation  is  adding  nearly  1,000,000  pounds  of  copper  per 
month  to  production  at  a  cost  of  about  five  cents  a  pound— an  operation  treating 
only  what  had  been  formerly  considered  waste  material,  and  which,  at  the  present 
rate,  will  continue  for  more  than  two  years.  The  total  metal  value,  thus, 

11 


which  can  be  recovered  from  old  slimes,  amounts  to  nearly  30,000,000  pounds 
of  copper,  with  silver  and  gold  proportionately;  produced  at  about  one-half  the 
cost  of  copper  produced  direct  from  the  crude  ore. 


An  additional  loss  in  metal  values,  in  former  years,  arose  from  the  fact  that 
the  coarser  particles  of  the  material  carried  off  a  considerable  percentage  of  the 
copper  and  silver.  These  coarse  particles,  known  as  tailings,  ran  quite  uniformly 
eleven  pounds  of  copper  to  the  ton. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  slimes,  it  was  realized  that  their  metal  values  might  some 
day  be  recovered  and  the  tailings,  accordingly,  were  stored  up  separately  in  large 
piles. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  oil  flotation  process,  although  efficient  in  the  case  of  the 
slimes,  could  not  be  made  available  for  the  recovery  of  metals  from  the  coarser 
tailings  without  regrinding  them  at  additional  expense. 

To  accomplish  this  recovery,  a  process,  known  as  sulphuric  acid  leaching,  was 
perfected. 

By  means  of  this  process,  the  tailings  are  taken  up  from  their  old  piles  and, 
after  roasting,  are  placed  in  large  vats  where  the  copper  and  silver  contents  are 
dissolved  out  in  a  weak  solution  of  sulphuric  acid.  This  acid  is  then  run  through 
tanks  containing  scrap  iron  which  precipitates  the  copper  and  silver  in  an  impure 
metallic  form,  from  which  it  can  be  readily  recovered  and  refined  at  slight  expense. 

The  first  essential  in  a  process  of  this  sort  is  a  cheap  supply  of  sulphuric  acid. 
This,  the  company  has  obtained  through  the  construction  of  a  sulphuric  acid  plant 
at  Anaconda,  with  a  capacity  of  150  tons  of  acid  per  day.  The  acid  is  manufactured 
from  a  by-product  of  the  company's  own  operations — the  sulphur  gases  thrown  off 
in  the  process  of  roasting.  This  plant  produces  acid  at  a  cost  sufficiently  low  to 
make  the  enterprise  a  profitable  one  aside  from  the  company's  need  for  acid. 

The  leaching  plant  in  which  the  tailings  are  treated  has  now  a  capacity  of  more 
than  2,000  tons  per  day  and  recovers  about  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  metal 
content  of  the  tailings.  Its  annual  recovery  amounts  to  7,000,000  pounds  of  copper 
at  a  net  cost  of  eight  and  one-half  cents  per  pound. 

As  the  old  tailing  piles  contain  more  than  20,000,000  tons,  there  is  enough  of 
this  material  available  to  enable  the  leaching  plant  to  continue  production  at  the 
present  rate  for  nearly  thirty  years.  These  tailing  piles,  as  will  be  seen,  are  capable 
of  being  converted  into  200,000,000  pounds  of  copper  at  less  cost  than  copper  can 
be  taken  direct  from  the  mines. 


The  concentrated  ore,  whether  direct  from  the  mines,  or  from  the  slime  ponds, 
having  been  separated  from  the  worthless  material,  or  gangue,  must  next  be  sub- 
jected to  treatment  to  eliminate  as  much  as  possible  of  the  sulphur  and  arsenic. 

This  is  done  in  large  roasting  ovens.  On  circular  decks  twenty -two  feet  in 
diameter,  the  concentrate  is  roasted  at  a  high  temperature,  being  continually  moved 
in  position  by  automatic  rakes. 

When  the  roasting  is  completed,  there  comes  next  the  important  operation  of 
smelting,  by  which  the  concentrates  are  brought  to  a  point  where  they  contain 
about  one-half  copper,  silver,  and  gold,  the  other  half  being  iron,  sulphur  and 
impurities. 

12 


For  many  years  Anaconda's  smelters  have  been  recognized  as  pioneers  in  the 
art.  More  than  ten  years  ago  the  blast  furnaces  were  lengthened  from  fifteen  to 
fifty  feet,  with  an  immense  increase  in  capacity  and  a  consequent  cheapening  in 
operation. 

The  improved  blast  furnace,  however,  is  now  being  rapidly  supplanted  in  Ana- 
conda by  a  highly  perfected  type  of  reverberatory  furnace.  The  reverberatories 
get  their  name  from  the  fact  that,  by  reason  of  their  shape  and  construction,  the 
flames  are  reflected  down  upon  the  mass  of  molten  metal.  Until  recently,  the  heat 
for  these  was  furnished  by  coal  shoveled  into  fire  boxes  in  front  by  hand.  Now, 
however,  a  still  further  improvement  has  been  wrought.  Coal  from  Anaconda's 
own  mines  is  first  dried  and  ground  to  a  fine  powder;  it  is  blown  into  the  reverbera- 
tory furnaces  burning  as  a  blast,  forming  a  flame  similar  to  that  of  burning  gas. 

Under  the  former  practice  of  hand-firing;  each  reverberatory  treated  225  tons  of 
concentrates  a  day  with  a  consumption  of  sixty-two  tons  of  coal.  Under  the  present 
practice  each  furnace  treats  585  tons  of  concentrates  per  day  with  a  consumption  of 
ninety -five  tons  of  coal.  Under  hand-firing,  thus,  the  plant  was  using  one  ton  of 


Coal  Dust  Storage  and  Burners  of  one  of  Anaconda's  Reverberatory  Furnaces. 

coal  to  each  four  tons  of  charge,  whereas  by  the  new  process,  6.8  tons  of  charge  arc 
treated  by  each  ton  of  coal  burned.  In  addition  to  an  increase  of  160  per  cent,  in 
the  output  of  the  furnaces,  lessened  operating  costs,  by  reason  of  the  reduction  in 
labor  requirements,  have  resulted  in  a  further  saving  of  fifty  cents  per  ton  of  con- 
centrates treated. 

The  saving  in  smelting  under  the  new  practice  is  more  than  sufficient  to  offset 
the  increased  cost  in  concentration  by  the  new  oil  flotation  process,  thus  reducing 
the  net  cost  of  treatment  per  ton  of  ore  in  the  face  of  a  seventeen  per  cent,  increase 

in  recovery. 

13 


The  product  remaining  after  the  smelting  operation  is  called  matte.  The 
next  problem  is  to  remove  the  iron  and  sulphur  from  the  matte,  leaving  the  copper, 
silver  and  gold  in  metallic  state. 

This  is  accomplished  by  the  operation  of  converting. 

The  molten  matte  is  poured  into  a  large  cylindrical  receptacle  called  a  con- 
verter, through  openings  in  the  side  of  which  air  is  admitted  under  pressure.  The 
oxygen  in  the  air  burns  off  the  sulphur  and  oxidizes  the  iron.  By  the  addition  of 
silicious  ores,  the  iron  oxide  forms  a  slag  which  floats  on  the  surface  and  is  skimmed 
off.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  operation,  the  copper  remains  in  the  converter  in  an 
impure  metallic  form,  carrying  the  gold,  and  silver  values. 

There  have  been  two  important  gradual  developments  in  Anaconda's  methods 
of  converting. 

First,  the  capacity  of  each  converter  has  been  raised  from  two  and  one-half 
tons  of  copper  per  charge  to  thirty-seven  tons  of  copper  per  charge,  the  amount  of 
labor  and  supervision  required  being  approximately  the  same.  This,  as  will  be  seen, 
has  brought  about  a  fifteen  fold  increase  in  output  with  a  material  reduction  in  the 
unit  costs  of  converting. 

Second,  the  earlier  practice  of  converting  involved  lining  the  converter  with  a 
silicious  material  which  was  eaten  away  as  the  charge  was  blown,  being  intended  to 
furnish  a  flux  to  slag  the  iron  oxide  during  the  operation.  After  five  charges  had 
been  blown,  the  lining  was  eaten  away  nearly  to  the  outside  steel  shell  and  the 
converter  had  to  be  shut  down,  cooled,  and  a  new  lining  put  in.  Under  the  new 
converting  practice,  the  converter  shell  is  lined  with  magnesite  brick  which  has  a 
comparatively  long  life,  and  the  silicious  material  to  slag  the  iron  oxide  is  added 
by  dumping  it  into  the  top  of  the  converter.  Not  only  has  this  change  saved  the 
material  and  labor  of  putting  in  new  linings,  but  it  has  brought  about  a  great  in- 
crease of  capacity  in  each  converter  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  little  time  is  lost 
in  frequent  relining;  some  50,000  tons  of  copper  can  now  be  converted  before  relin- 
ing  is  necessary. 


Summing  up  the  operations,  from  the  mine  to  the  refinery,  let  it  be  assumed 
that  a  start  is  made  with  eleven  tons  of  ore  from  the  crushers;  resembling  in  texture 
a  gravelly  sand  and  containing  approximately  three  per  cent,  copper,  silver,  and 
gold,  the  remaining  ninety-seven  per  cent,  being  iron,  sulphur,  arsenic,  clay,  and 
worthless  material. 

By  concentration  in  water  and  by  oil  flotation  there  will  be  eliminated  seven 
tons,  approximately,  of  the  worthless  material,  leaving  four  tons  of  eight  per  cent, 
copper. 

Placing  this  now  in  the  roaster,  a  large  part  of  the  sulphur  is  burned  off,  leav- 
ing approximately  three  and  two-tenths  tons  of  material  containing  ten  per  cent, 
copper. 

From  the  roaster,  this  is  placed  in  the  smelter  with  the  result  that  there  is 
left  three-fourths  of  a  ton  of  matte  containing  forty  per  cent,  copper. 

This  matte  from  the  smelter  next  goes  into  the  converter,  leaving  three- 
tenths  of  a  ton  which  is  almost  pure  copper  except  for  silver  and  gold  and  minor 
impurities. 

14 


The  copper  as  it  comes  from  the  converter  is  known  as  blister  copper.  In 
this  state  it  needs  but  refining — separating  out  the  pure  copper,  pure  silver,  and 
the  pure  gold,  to  turn  it  into  articles  of  commerce. 

The  process  of  refining  consists  of  placing  castings  of  blister  copper  from  the 
converters  in  lead-lined  tanks  containing  sulphuric  acid ;  at  the  side  of  each  blister- 
copper  casting  is  suspended  a  thin  sheet  of  pure  copper.  The  blister  copper  cast- 
ings, now  known  as  anodes,  are  next  connected  with  the  positive  side  of  an  electric 
current,  while  the  thin  copper  sheets  between  known  as  cathodes,  are  connected 
with  the  negative  side.  By  a  process,  in  every  respect  similar  to  electro-plating, 


A  View  of  the  2, 000-Ton  Leaching  Plant  at  Anaconda. 

the  pure  copper  leaves  the  anodes  and  is  deposited  upon  the  cathodes.  The 
process,  requiring  several  days,  continues  until  the  anodes  entirely  disappear,  all 
of  their  copper  having  been  deposited  upon  the  cathodes,  while  the  silver  and  gold 
drops  to  the  bottom  of  the  tank  in  the  form  of  black  slime. 

The  cathodes  now  are  melted  and  run  into  ingots,  cakes,  wire  bars,  rods  and 
billets  of  pure  copper,  while  the  slimes  are  smelted  for  the  recovery  of  their  silver 
and  gold  contents. 


The  improvements  in  Anaconda's  processes  may  be  largely  credited  to  the 
extensive  experimental  laboratory  which  the  company  has  maintained.  Here 
a  large  staff  of  metallurgists  and  research  chemists  is  constantly  employed  in  solv- 
ing the  problems  which  arise  from  day  to  day,  and  planning  improvements  for  the 
future. 

The  laboratories  themselves  are  equipped  with  machinery  similar  to  the 
machinery  of  the  main  plants,  but  operating,  of  course,  on  a  greatly  reduced  scale. 

15 


This  department  now  has  under  way  some  research  work  of  the  highest 
importance  which  gives  indications  of  developing  additional  returns  through  the 
manufacture  of  chemical  by-products  from  material  now  discarded. 

Within  the  next  few  years  announcement  may  be  expected  of  important 
developments  along  these  lines  which,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sulphuric  acid  plant, 
should  bring  about  considerable  additions  to  the  profits  of  the  company. 

As  yet  this  experimental  work  has  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  permit  of  any 
detailed  discussion,  though  it  has  been  carried  sufficiently  far  to  justify  confident 

expectations  of  successful  results. 

****** 

Anaconda's  new  processes,  summed  up,  have  brought  about  a  net  recovery 
of  more  than  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  available  metals  in  the  ores  as  against  a  recovery 
of  only  seventy -seven  per  cent,  a  year  ago— without  a  penny  of  extra  expense. 

Not  only  have  they  made  possible  the  recovery  of  this  high  percentage  from 
the  ores  which  are  now  being  mined  and  which  are  to  be  mined;  they  have  made 
possible,  in  addition,  the  recovery  of  the  thirteen  per  cent. — formerly  considered 
impossible  to  extract — from  practically  all  the  ores  which  Anaconda  has  mined 
since  the  beginning. 

Or,  to  view  their  results  from  another  standpoint,  they  have  made  present 
reduction  methods  seventeen  per  cent,  more  efficient;  and  have  made  available  more 
than  230,000,000  pounds  of  high  profit  copper  which  under  the  old  processes  were 
thrown  away. 


16 


ANACONDA'S   NEW  ZINC   INDUSTRY 

Some  of  the  ores  of  the  Butte  District  have  always  been  known  to  contain 
zinc;  but  the  zinc  has  been  of  such  a  character  and  so  low  in  percentage  that,  with 
a  few  exceptions,  it  has  been  impossible  to  extract  it  profitably.  In  former  years 
the  zinc  in  the  ores  has,  in  fact,  been  a  hindrance  in  Anaconda's  processes,  causing 
a  loss  of  part  of  the  other  metal  content,  at  the  same  time  adding  to  the  expense 
of  operations. 

By  a  new  process  made  possible  by  cheap  electric  power  and  cheap  sulphuric 
acid,  Anaconda's  metallurgists  have  found  a  way  not  only  to  extract  high  per- 
centages of  zinc  economically,  but  also  to  recover  the  gold  and  silver  values 
which  occur  in  the  zinc  ores  and  either  the  lead  or  copper — whichever  may  prove 
more  profitable. 

The  first  problem  in  the  extraction  of  zinc  was  to  develop  a  means  for  separat- 
ing the  zinc  sulphides  and  their  accompanying  precious  metal  values  from  the 
gangue.  To  accomplish  this,  the  oil  flotation  process  was  found  well  suited;  but 
the  concentrate  resulting  was  too  low  in  zinc  and  too  high  in  iron  to  be  adapted 
to  treatment  by  a  direct  zinc  smelting  process. 

The  next  problem,  thus,  was  to  devise  a  means  of  separating  the  zinc,  gold, 
silver,  and  copper  from  the  concentrate. 

It  was  found  that  if  the  zinc  concentrates  from  flotation  machines,  containing 
about  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  metal  values  in  the  ore,  are  first  roasted  and  then 
placed  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  the  zinc  content  is  dissolved  out;  while  the  iron, 
lead,  silver,  gold  and  most  of  the  copper,  remain  in  the  residue  from  which  the 
valuable  metals  are  recovered  by  smelting. 

The  acid  solution,  then  containing  the  zinc  as  a  sulphate,  is  next  placed  in 
circular  drums  containing  balls  of  metallic  zinc  and  revolved  until  any  small 
amounts  of  copper  or  cadmium  have  been  precipitated  out.  The  zinc  sulphate 
solution  is  then  clarified  in  filters,  sent  to  lead-lined  tanks  for  electrical  decomposi- 
tion. Instead  of  having  copper  anodes  and  cathodes,  as  in  copper  refining,  these 
tanks  are  fitted  with  permanent  lead  anodes  and  thin,  temporary  aluminum 
cathodes  to  act  as  starting  sheets  to  receive  the  zinc. 

The  electric  current  is  then  turned  into  the  solution  and  as  in  the  process  of 
refining  copper,  the  metallic  zinc  is  deposited  upon  the  cathode  and  sulphuric 
acid  set  free  in  the  solution.  After  the  zinc  is  deposited,  the  sulphuric  acid  is 
used  again  to  dissolve  fresh  zinc  from  other  roasted  concentrates. 

The  zinc  deposited  on  the  aluminunj  sheets  is  peeled  off  in  layers,  melted  down 
in  furnaces  and  cast  into  ingots  or  bars  for  shipment. 

Zinc  so  produced  is  not  only  of  an  exceptionally  high  degree  of  chemical  purity, 
but  also  possesses  an  exceptionally  high  degree  of  ductility  and  on  account  of  its 
chemical  and  physical  properties  commands  a  premium  over  the  so-called  prime 
western  spelter  produced  in  the  middle  west. 

In  this  process  sulphuric  acid  from  the  company's  own  plant  is  used,  and 
cheap  electricity  becomes  even  more  a  factoi  than  in  the  copper  refining  process; 
the  dissolution  of  zinc  sulphate  by  electricity  requires  nearly  ten  times  the  amount 
of  power  that  is  required  in  the  process  of  refining  an  equal  weight  of  copper.  If 
steam  power  were  required,  even  with  Anaconda's  cheap  coal  resources,  zinc  could 
not  be  refined  at  a  profit. 

In  addition  to  Anaconda's  large  quantities  of  low-grade  zinc,  such  as  can  be 
treated  as  above,  four  of  Anaconda's  twenty-six  mines  in  the  Butte  District  are 

17 


distinctively  zinc  mines,  some  of  them  containing  zinc  of  such  a  character  and  in 
such  properties  as  to  permit  even  of  direct  smelting. 

With  the  opening  of  a  zinc  plant,  all  of  Anaconda's  zinc  resources  will  now 

be  made  available. 

****** 

The  new  zinc  concentrator  being  built  at  Anaconda  is  designed  to  handle 
2,000  tons  of  ore  daily  and,  in  connection  with  the  roasting,  leaching,  and  precipi- 
tation plant  under  construction  at  Great  Falls,  is  expected  to  turn  out  70,000,000 
pounds  of  zinc  annually,  commencing  in  the  early  autumn  of  1916.  This  output 
represents  almost  one-fourteenth  of  the  entire  zinc  production  of  the  United  States 
in  1915,  whereas  the  ores  at  hand  and  in  sight  may  be  found  sufficient  to  justify 
the  construction  of  a  much  larger  plant  should  zinc  profits  warrant  it.  Further, 
by  reason  of  the  economy  of  the  process,  it  may  be  found  profitable  to  handle  other 
zinc  ores  purchased  in  the  neighborhood  or  to  treat  under  contract  for  other  pro- 
ducers. It  is  well  within  the.  bounds  of  probability  that,  as  the  success  of  the 
process  is  determined  on  a  large  scale,  the  capacity  of  the  zinc  plant  will  be  en- 
larged materially. 

****** 

In  the  course  of  experimentation  in  treating  zinc  ores  a  small  plant  has  al- 
ready been  established  and  is  in  operation  at  Anaconda. 

This  plant,  with  a  capacity  of  about  eight  tons  of  spelter  per  day  is  rapidly 
being  increased  up  to  a  capacity  of  twenty -five  tons  per  day. 

The  experimental  plant,  although  having  served  to  prove  the  practicability 
of  the  process,  is  not  as  economical  a  producer  of  spelter  as  the  new  plant  at  Great 
Falls  will  be. 

Owing  to  the  present  high  prices  of  zinc,  however,  this  small  operation  has 
been  very  profitable;  the  entire  product  of  the  experimental  plant  has  been  sold 
ahead  for  the  full  year  at  a  profit  which  will  not  only  pay  the  total  experimentation 
cost  to  date,  but,  in  addition  will  cover  the  equipment  of  the  twenty -five  ton  plant 
at  Anaconda,  the  2,000  ton  zinc  concentrator  and  the  70,000,000-pound  plant  at 
Great  Falls,  leaving  a  handsome  profit  beside. 


As  to  the  cost  of  producing  zinc  in  the  new  plant  or  the  profit  of  the  operation 
at  normal  zinc  -prices,  it  is  difficult  to  formulate  a  definite  estimate. 

It  is,  in  all  probability,  a  conservative  assumption  that  the  Anaconda  Copper 
Mining  Company  will  in  the  near  future,  with  normal  prices  of  zinc,  be  able  to 
earn  a  profit  of  two:  cents  per  pound  on  its  70,000,000-pound  output — an  annual 
net  earning  of  $1,400,000  from  this  new  source. 

These  earnings  should  be  in  full  effect  in  the  year  1917,  and  there  is  an  excellent 
outlook  for  much  larger  profits  than  this  as  the  rate  of  operations  increase. 


18 


ANACONDA'S    PLANT  AND   EQUIPMENT 

As  has  been  stated,  Anaconda's  chief  mining  operations  are  confined  to  a 
solid  tract  of  ground  two  square  miles  in  area  in  the  heart  of  the  Butte  District, 
Within  this  tract  it  operates  twenty -six  mines,  as  follows: 

Copper  Mines 


Anaconda 
Never  Sweat 
St.  Lawrence 
Mountain  Consolidated 
Bell 

Tropic 

East  Colusa 


High  Ore 
Belmont 
Original 
Stewart 


Poulin 
Tramway 
Silver  Bow 
Berkeley 


Mountain  View 
Pennsylvania 
Leonard 
West  Colusa 


Moonlight      West  Gray  Rock        Badger  State 

Nettie 


Zinc  Mines 
Emma  Alice 


Lexington 


The  ores  taken  from  these  mines  are  shipped  to  Anaconda  for  concentra- 
tion. The  resulting  concentrates  are  smelted,  converted,  and  refined  either  at  the 
company's  large  smelting  plant  in  Anaconda  or  are  shipped  to  the  company's 
smaller  smelting  plant  and  copper  refinery  at  Great  Falls,  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy  miles. 


Anaconda's  Timber  Mill  at  Rocker,  Montana,  three  miles  from  Butte;  here  the  timbers  for  the  mines 
areframed. 

19 


The  company's  concentrating,  smelting,  converting,  and  refining  plants  at 
Anaconda  and  at  Great  Falls  handle  all  of  the  company's  own  ores,  and  also  do  a 
certain  amount  of  custom  work. 

In  addition  to  these  plants  the  company,  through  subsidiary  corporations, 
operates  four  other  large  smelting  and  refining  plants.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
lead  and  copper  plant  of  the  International  Smelting  Company  at  Tooele,  near 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  This  plant  is  a  custom  smelter,  so  called,  treating  ores 
for  various  copper  and  lead  properties  in  the  Central  Rocky  Mountain  mining 
district.  The  Tooele  plant  has  an  annual  output  of  15,000,000  pounds  of  copper, 
100,000,000  pounds  of  lead,  and  4,000,000  ounces  of  silver. 

The  International  Smelting  Company  has  recently  constructed  a  new  smelter 
of  the  most  modern  type,  near  Miami,  Arizona.  This  plant  smelts  the  concen- 
trates produced  by  the  Inspiration  Consolidated  Copper  Company  and  the  Miami 
Copper  Company,  together  with  smaller  amounts  from  other  producers  in  the 
district.  The  smelter  at  Miami  will  treat  about  1,000  tons  of  concentrates  daily, 
with  an  output  of  180,000,000  pounds  of  copper  per  annum. 

Through  the  International  Lead  Refining  Company,  Anaconda  owns  and 
operates  a  large  refining  plant  for  lead  bullion  in  East  Chicago,  Illinois.  This 
plant  refines  the  bullion  produced  at  the  Tooele  plant  of  the  International  Smelting 
Company,  and  also  treats  some  foreign  ores. 

Through  the  Raritan  Copper  Works  at  Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey,  the  com- 
pany operates  the  largest  copper  refinery  in  the  world.  This  refinery  had  a  capac- 
ity prior  to  1915  of  360,000,000  pounds  of  copper  annually.  During  1915,  its 
capacity  was  increased  to  440,000,000  pounds  annually.  The  refinery  is  well 
located  on  tide  water  and  is  especially  favorably  situated  for  shipments  of  copper 
abroad. 


A  View  of  the  Sulphuric  Acid  Plant  and  Brick  Plant  No.  2  at  Anaconda. 

20 


The  International  Smelting  Company,  the  International  Lead  Refining  Com- 
pany, and  the  Raritan  Copper  Works,  although  operating  under  their  independent 
names,  are  owned  outright  by  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company. 

COAL  HOLDINGS 

The  coal  mining  department  of  the  Anaconda  operates  properties  in  the 
Diamond  field  of  Wyoming,  at  Bear  Creek,  Montana,  and  also  at  Sand  Coulee 
near  Great  Falls.  Its  coal  properties  have  been  estimated  to  contain  in  excess 
of  100,000,000  tons  of  unmined  coal.  Coal  is  much  less  of  an  item  to  the  Com- 
pany than  in  former  years  since  its  power  is  now  purchased  from  the  hydro- 
electric plants  of  the  Montana  Power  Company,  yet  for  heating  and  for  fuel  in 
smelting  a  considerable  amount  of  coal  is  still  required.  During  1915  Anaconda 
used  735,000  tons  of  coal  and  193,000  tons  of  coke. 

TIMBER  HOLDINGS 

The  timber  holdings  of  the  Anaconda  were  obtained  through  the  purchase 
of  a  part  of  the  Old  Northern  Pacific  land  grant  in  Montana  about  twenty-three 
years  ago.  They  are  located  mostly  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state.  These 
lands  cover  over  a  million  acres  and  are  estimated  to  contain  6,067,000,000  board 
feet  of  timber.  They  furnish  the  timber  for  mining  operations  at  Butte  which 
use  about  75,000,000  board  feet  of  sawn  timber  and  300,000  sticks  of  round  tim- 
bers annually.  The  company's  own  consumption  approximates  one-half  of  the 
annual  cut,  the  remainder  being  sold  commercially. 

LIGHT,  WATER  AND  STREET  RAILWAYS 

The  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  owns  the  lighting  system,  water 
supply  and  street  railway  system  of  the  City  of  Anaconda,  this  resulting  from 


"Original"  Mine  at  Butte,  showing  the  Headframe  and  Scrap-iron  Precipitation  Tanks  for  recovery 
of  metals  from  mine  waters. 

21 


the  fact  that  the  town  of  Anaconda  was  built  in  its  entirety  to  serve  as  a  residential 
district  for  the  operatives  at  the  plant. 

AGRICULTURAL  LANDS 

As  the  timber  from  the  company's  lands  is  cut  off,  much  of  the  land  becomes 
of  value  for  agricultural  purposes  and  from  time  to  time  this  is  sold  to  settlers. 
The  amount  of  the  business  done  is  not  great,  expressed  in  dollars  and  cents,  yet 
it  is  a  contribution  of  some  importance  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State 
of  Montana.  About  8,000  acres  of  land  is  also  owned  near  Anaconda.  This 
was  originally  purchased  to  protect  the  company  against  suits  for  damage  from 
smoke  and  gases,  but  some  of  it  is  now  being  farmed  successfully  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  company. 

BRICK    PLANTS 

At  Anaconda  a  brick  plant  is  operated  and  another  one  is  operated  at  Great 
Falls,  both  by  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company.  At  these  plants,  build- 
ing brick  and  fire  brick  for  use  at  the  smelters  is  made,  and  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  brick  is  also  shipped  from  these  plants  and  sold  profitably  in  various 
parts  of  the  country. 

FOUNDRY 

A  large  foundry  is  operated  by  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  at 
Anaconda.  Though  largely  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  machine  parts  for 
the  company,  this  foundry  does  a  certain  amount  of  profitable  custom  work. 

SULPHURIC  ACID   PLANT 

This  plant,  which  has  already  been  described,  is  located  at  Anaconda  and 
has  a  daily  capacity  of  150  tons  of  60°  Be.  sulphuric  acid.  The  acid  is  manufac- 
tured from  the  gases  which  result  from  roasting  the  concentrates  of  the  copper 
ores  and  constitutes,  thus,  the  profitable  utilization  of  a  waste  product. 

MISCELLANEOUS  MINING  OPERATIONS 

The  Anaconda  maintains  an  efficient  staff  of  engineers  and  geologists  which  is 
constantly  adding  to  the  company's  resources  through  the  purchase  of  small  mining 
properties  which  could  not  be  efficiently  handled  except  as  part  of  an  immense 
organization.  In  this  class  it  operates  the  Southern  Cross  Mine  in  the  George- 
town District  near  Anaconda,  has  taken  options  on  and  is  developing  some  silver- 
zinc  properties  in  the  Neihart  District  of  Montana  and  is  also  prospecting  certain 

large  low  grade  gold  bearing  dikes  near  Helena. 

****** 

It  will  be  seen  that,  in  the  matter  of  plant  and  equipment,  Anaconda  is  singu- 
larly independent  of  outside  sources  for  its  principal  supplies;  that  it  is  not  only 
able  to  treat  all  of  the  ores  if  its  own  mines,  but  to  treat  a  great  quantity  of  custom 
ores  including  not  only  copper,  zinc,  silver  and  gold,  but  lead  as  well.  Its  smelt- 
ing and  refining  equipment  exceeds  that  of  any  other  company  in  the  world. 


ANACONDA'S   SECURITY   HOLDINGS 

As  has  been  stated,  Anaconda  owns  all  of  the  securities  (with  the  exception 
of  directors'  qualifying  shares)  of  the  following  companies: 
International  Smelting  Company 
International  Lead  Refining  Company 
Raritan  Copper  Works 

It  also  owns,  similarly,  the  United  Metal  Selling  Company.  This  company  is 
the  sales  organization  for  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company,  and  it  also 
sells  copper  for  other  producers.  All  told,  the  United  Metal  Selling  Company 
sells  in  excess  of  600,000,000  pounds  of  copper  annually — handling,  thus,  more 
than  one-third  of  the  copper  produced  in  the  United  States  and  approximately 
one-fourth  of  all  the  copper  produced  in  the  world. 

In  addition  to  its  ownership  of  these  four  important  companies,  the  Anaconda 
Copper  Mining  Company  also  owns  the  following  securities: 

Fifty-one  per  cent,  of  the  stock  of  the  Butte,  Anaconda  &  Pacific  Railway 
Company,  which  carries  its  ores  from  Butte  to  Anaconda. 

One  hundred  fifty  thousand  out  of  a  total  1,182,755  shares  of  the  Inspiration 
Consolidated  Copper  Company,  one  of  the  most  profitable  low-grade  copper  prop- 
erties, operating  in  the  Globe  District  of  Arizona,  producing  now  at  the  rate  of 
120,000,000  pounds  per  annum.  Anaconda's  interest  in  Inspiration  was  acquired 
at  a  cost  around  $20.00  per  share  some  years  ago.  Inspiration  has  come  rapidly 
to  the  forefront  during  the  past  year  and  is  now  producing  copper  at  a  cost  of  eight 
cents  per  pound  or  less.  The  first  dividend  declared  by  Inspiration  amounted  to 
$1.25  per  share,  quarterly,  but  this  has  been  raised  to  $2.00  per  share.  The  mill 
commenced  operations  only  in  the  middle  of  1915  and  was  in  full  operation  by 
February,  1916.  It  may  be  reasonably  expected  that  Anaconda's  earnings  from 
this  source  will  materially  increase. 

Thirty  thousand  eight  hundred  shares  out  of  a  total  issue  of  488,010  shares 
of  the  Greene-Cananea  Copper  Company  producing  at  the  rate  of  66,000,000 
pounds  per  annum. 

The  Anaconda  also  has  holdings  in  the  Andes  Exploration  Co.,  which  are 
known  to  be  of  great  value,  but  which  as  yet  do  not  add  to  the  earnings  of 
the  Anaconda.  Some  details  concerning  this  property  are  to  be  found  on  the 

following  page. 

****** 

All  told,  Anaconda  will  enjoy,  under  normal  metal  prices,  an  income  from 
its  security  holdings  of  more  than  $6,250,000  per  annum,  $5,000,000  of  this 
being  derived  from  securities  of  companies  which  it  owns  outright.  This  income, 
of  course,  is  in  addition  to  the  profits  which  it  makes  from  its  direct  mining  and 
reduction  operations  in  Montana. 


ANACONDA'S   SOUTH   AMERICAN    MINE 

Through  its  subsidiary,  the  Andes  Exploration  Company,  the  Anaconda 
Copper  Mining  Company  is  developing  a  large  deposit  of  low-grade  oreatPotrerillos, 
Chile,  about  100  miles  inland  from  the  Port  of  Chanaral,  Province  of  Atacama,  at  an 
elevation  about  10,500  feet. 

Development  here  has  only  been  commenced  and  a  great  deal  of  churn 
drilling  is  yet  to  be  done. 

Already,  however,  60,000,000  tons  of  ore  of  a  profitable  grade  has  been 
developed  and  in  addition  there  has  been  developed  approximately  200,000,000 
tons  of  low-grade  ore  which  also  may  probably  be  worked  at  a  profit. 

The  ore  body  at  Potrerillos  is  not  greatly  dissimilar  to  those  of  some  of  the 
leading  porphyry  copper  mines  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  United  States.  At 
the  surface  it  is  oxidized  and  changes  to  sulphides  at  varying  depths.  Experimental 
work  in  the  Anaconda  Copper  research  laboratories  at  Anaconda  indicates  that 
the  surface  oxidized  ores  may  be  treated  profitably  by  sulphuric  acid  leaching 
and  that  from  the  sulphide  ores  a  very  high  grade  of  concentrate  can  be  obtained 
by  the  oil  flotation  process. 

The  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  will  own,  when  the  securities  have 
been  issued,  about  seventy -five  per  cent,  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Andes  Copper 
Company,  which  in  turn  will  own  the  operating  company  at  Potrerillos;  the 
Anaconda  will  therefore  profit  to  the  extent  of  three-fourths  of  the  earnings  from 
that  Company's  operations. 


ANACONDA'S   EARNINGS,   FINANCES,  AND 

FUTURE 

It  is  too  early  to  forecast  the  earnings  for  the  calendar  year  for  the  property. 
In  the  method  of  keeping  its  books,  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  dif- 
fers from  other  copper  producers.  Other  copper  companies  are  accustomed  to 
figure  their  production  for  the  current  month,  the  sales  of  their  product  for  that 
month,  and  to  calculate  the  difference  as  the  profit  for  that  month. 

"While  this  method  is  above  criticism  from  the  standpoint  of  correctness,  yet 
the  profits  so  calculated  are  not  realized  in  the  cash  account  until  three  months 
later. 

The  Anaconda,  however,  contrary  to  the  custom  usually  followed,  considers 
only  profits  actually  realized  in  the  cash  account. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  metals  have  been  rising,  the  profits  for  the  earlier  part 
of  this  year,  booked  according  to  Anaconda's  methods,  are  the  results  of  sales 
made  last  year  at  lower  prices  than  now  prevail. 

The  current  monthly  and  quarterly  profits  shown  are  the  results  of  sales  made 
earlier  in  the  year,  which,  likewise  were  made  at  lower  prices  than  now  prevail. 

On  the  above  basis  of  accounting  the  Company  is  probably  earning  at  the 
present  time  upwards  of  $45,000,000  annually. 


Such  earnings  as  these,  of  course,  may  be  regarded  as  abnormal  and  extra- 
ordinary; they  are  due  in  part  to  war-time  prices  and  forced  production  to  meet 
war-time  demand. 

Without  trying  to  forecast  the  future,  beyond  the  time  for  which  the  Company 
has  made  definite  contracts  in  advance  for  its  metals,  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining 
Company  has  unquestionably  placed  itself  in  a  position  to  pay  off  all  indebtedness 
now  outstanding  ($16,000,000,  5%  notes  due  March  1,  1917),  and  also  to  complete 
its  entire  program  of  construction,  leaving  a  handsome  surplus  for  further  im- 
provements, the  purchase  of  additional  properties,  and  dividends. 


Anaconda,  however,  is  by  no  means  dependent  on  war-time  prices  for  highly 
profitable  operation.  During  the  partially  depressed  year  of  1915,  when  the  copper 
market  placed  operations  at  hah*  capacity  during  the  early  part  of  the  year,  and  with 
little  benefit  from  the  improved  processes  now  installed  and  none  whatever  from  the 
production  of  zinc,  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  earned  $16,695,806, 
after  charging  off  $1,900,578  for  depreciation,  and  paying  $984,233  in  interest. 
These  earnings  represent  $7.16  per  share  on  the  outstanding  2,331,250  shares. 

It  may  be  conservatively  estimated  that  the  normal  price  of  copper,  after 
the  war,  should  average  fourteen  cents  for  a  series  of  years,  and  that  the  normal 
price  of  zinc  should  be  five  and  one-half  cents.  It  must  be  understood  that  Ana- 
conda's present  production  is  at  high  pressure — that  because  of  the  present  ready 
market  and  high  prices,  it  is  now  profitable  to  treat  ores  of  a  grade  lower  than  that 
which  could  ordinarily  be  profitably  treated.  Allowing,  however,  for  a  probable 
decrease  of  production  at  Anaconda  after  the  war,  it  appears  reasonable  to  esti- 
mate about  as  follows: 

27 


Earnings  From  Operations  In  Montana: 

300,000,000  pounds  of  copper  produced  annually  at  a  cost  of  9c 

per  pound,  with  copper  at  14c $15,000,000.00 

70,000,000  pounds  of  zinc  produced  annually  at  a  cost  of  3^c 

per  pound,  with  zinc  at  5j^c  per  pound 1,400,000.00 


$16,400,000.00 
Other  Income: 

Return  from  security  holdings  annually  under  normal  condi- 
tions        $6,250,000.00 


Total  estimated  future  earnings  under  normal  prices  for  metals  $22,650,000.00 

On  this  basis — figuring  copper  prices  at  a  fourteen-cent  average  and  Ana- 
conda's production  at  eighty-three  per  cent,  of  its  present  scale — earnings  would  be 
at  the  rate  of  $9.72  per  share  annually. 

In  addition  to  the  above  earnings,  the  company  should  within  the  next  few 
years  begin  to  realize  on  its  investment  in  Chile.  While  the  exploration  work 
there  is  by  no  means  complete,  and  it  is  too  early  to  make  definite  forecasts  as  to 
tonnage  or  rate  of  operation,  it  has  been  shown,  nevertheless,  that  the  occurrence 
of  ore  at  Potrerillos  is  sufficiently  extensive  and  of  such  a  character  as  to  warrant 
the  expectation  of  a  large  and  profitable  operation.  From  the  data  at  hand,  it  is 
fair  to  assume  a  production  of  100,000,000  to  150,000,000  pounds  of  copper  annu- 
ally at  a  profit  around  five  cents  per  pound  under  normal  metal  prices.  Since 
the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  owns  seventy -five  per  cent,  of  the  operat- 
ing company  in  control  of  the  Chilean  deposits,  they  should  return  an  amount 
equivalent  to  at  least  $2.00  per  share  per  annum  on  Anaconda's  entire  issue  of 
stock;  the  period  when  this  return  will  commence  is,  of  course,  several  years 
distant. 

The  financial  position  of  the  company  is  strong.  The  excess  of  current  assets 
over  current  liabilities  was,  as  shown  by  the  company's  balance  sheet  of  December 
31, 1915,  $20,106,910.  The  value  of  net  current  assets,  however,  may  be  considered 
to  be  materially  above  that  figure,  for  the  item  "Metals  on  Hand  and  in  Process," 
in  the  balance  sheet  amounted  to  $18,944,074,  with  copper  and  lead  carried  at 
cost  and  silver  and  gold  at  market.  While  it  is  not  possible  to  make  an  exact 
separation  between  copper  and  lead  carried  at  cost  and  silver  and  gold  at  market 
in  this  item,  it  is  probable  that  the  market  value  of  copper  and  lead  on  hand  at 
that  date  was  around  $17,000,000  above  the  figures  at  which  they  were  carried. 

At  the  present  time  the  net  balance  of  current  assets  should  be  very  mater- 
ially in  excess  of  the  figures  for  the  end  of  the  calendar  year. 

As  to  capitalization,  The  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  has  outstand- 
ing 2,331,250  shares,  par  value  $50  each,  which  are  now  receiving  dividends  at 
the  rate  of  $8.00  per  share  annually,  and  $16,000,000  5%  gold  notes  due  March 
1,  1917.  In  considering  the  future  outlook  of  this  company,  it  may  be  assumed 
that  the  notes  will  be  paid  off  at  maturity,  unless  the  Company  chooses  to  invest 
its  surplus  in  a  more  profitable  manner.  Its  ability  to  pay  them  off  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  net  current  assets  on  December  31,  1915,  even  on  the  company's 

28 


conservative  basis  of  carrying  metals,  were  over  $4,000,000  in  excess  of  the  amount 
of  the  note  issue,  and  further  than  this,  the  value  of  metals  in  process  and  on  hand 
on  December  31,  1915  was  probably  greater  than  the  figure  at  which  these  were 
carried  by  an  amount  in  excess  of  the  entire  issue. 


How  long  will  Anaconda  last? 

The  veins  in  Anaconda's  mines  at  Butte  comprise  an  intricate  system, 
forming  a  network  of  comparatively  thick  ore  bodies  extending  to  great  depth, 
and  extending  over  an  area  approximately  two  miles  long  and  one  mile  wide.  In 
respect  to  the  ore  occurrence,  the  Anaconda  group  of  properties  differs  from  the 
so-called  Porphyries,  which  latter  are  masses  of  disseminated  ore  occurring,  gener- 
ally, close  to  the  surface. 

At  the  Porphyries  it  is  quite  important  to  determine  in  advance  the  shape 
and  grade  of  these  masses  of  ore  in  order  to  lay  out  the  mining  system,  for  if  such 
a  course  is  not  pursued,  the  operations  cannot  be  kept  properly  under  control, 
whereas  at  vein  mines  such  as  Anaconda  the  mining  practice  is  generally  flexible 
and  the  ore  may  be  attacked  at  any  level  in  accordance  with  developments  there. 

It  would,  of  course,  be  possible  in  the  Butte  mines  to  block  out  immense  ore 
reserves,  as  has  been  done  at  many  of  the  porphyry  properties,  but  such  a  course 
would  be  impracticable  and  economically  unsound,  for  the  reason  that  under  the 
existing  conditions  heavy  timbering  would  be  required,  with  frequent  replacements 
of  the  same  in  order  to  keep  the  workings  open.  This  necessarily  involves  great 
expense,  with  the  inevitable  loss  of  interest  on  the  money  so  expended. 

It  is  the  practice  at  Anaconda  to  block  out  ore  in  advance  only  sufficient  to 
meet  the  requirements  for  immediate  operation;  generally  speaking  approximately 
two  years'  supply  of  ore  is  carried  ahead.  If  there  were  indications  of  diminution 
of  width  or  impoverishment  in  depth,  there  might  be  grounds  for  blocking  the  ore 
out  in  advance  regardless  of  the  expense  involved;  but  the  evidence  revealed  in 
the  present  lower  levels  is  precisely  to  the  contrary. 

The  bulk  of  the  ore  now  being  mined  by  Anaconda  comes  from  above  the 
2400  ft.  level.  The  extensive  drifts  which  have  been  driven  on  the  veins  from  a 
number  of  shafts  at  the  2800  ft.  level,  which  is  the  deepest  level  on  which  any  large 
amount  of  development  work  has  been  done,  show  veins  just  as  strong  and  just  as 
good  as  in  the  upper  leAsels  and  in  some  particular  cases  of  unusual  width  and  value. 
The  development  work  done  at  the  present  lowest  level — 3400  ft. — while  not  ex- 
tensive, shows  ore  of  about  the  same  tenor  as  is  now  being  mined  in  the  upper 
workings. 

The  engineering  and  geological  staffs,  through  the  application  of  the  mathe- 
matical principles  of  geology,  are  constantly  locating  bodies  of  ores  in  parts  of 
the  upper  levels,  formerly  overlooked  in  the  course  of  the  cruder  mining  operations 
of  early  days.  These  add  materially  to  reserves.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  expected  life  of  the  deposits  has  been  prolonged  in  an  important  way  through 
the  addition  to  reserves  of  ores  formerly  considered  of  no  value,  but  which, 
under  new  metallurgical  methods  already  described,  are  now  available  for  profit- 
able treatment. 

The  question  of  Anaconda's  life,  therefore,  is  one  that  need  not  be  considered 
for  many  years  to  come. 

29 


THE   NEW  ANACONDA-A  SUMMARYi.Jiv:/ 

As  has  been  shown,  a  new  Anaconda  has  gradually  supplanted  the  Ahacpnd&Df  * 
i  j  -.••.;...••• 

old. 

The  new  Anaconda  may  be  considered  as  representing  the  climax  of  skill, 
judgment,  and  experience  as  applied  to  mining,  reducing,  and  marketing  copper, 
silver,  gold,  and  lead. 

The  New  Anaconda  finds  itself  in  a  strong  financial  position — with  a  great  ex- 
cess of  current  assets  over  current  liabilities,  and  amply  provided  with  means  to  take 
care  of  all  of  its  undertakings. 

Under  present  prices  it  is  earning  this  year  upwards  of  forty  per  cent,  of 
the  par  value  of  its  entire  issued  stock;  and,  at  normal  prices,  it  should,  for  a 
long  period,  average  to  earn  approximately  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  par  value  of  its 
issued  stock.  ***** 

^To  a  great  work  such  as  has  been  accomplished  by  Anaconda  many  men  must 
necessarily  contribute.  No  account  of  the  Company,  however  brief,  would  be 
complete  without  the  mention  of  two  names.  One  is  that  of  the  late  Marcus  Daly, 
who  foresaw  the  possibilities  of  Anaconda,  who  interested  capital  in  it,  who  laid  a 
blanket  of  ownership  over  most  of  the  Butte  Hill,  who  bought  extensive  coal  and 
timber  properties  decades  in  advance  of  their  need,  who  was  instrumental  in 
starting  the  series  of  amalgamations  which  made  the  New  Anaconda  possible. 
The  other  is  that  of  John  D.  Ryan,  the  present  head  of  the  Company,  who  built 
up  Anaconda's  efficient  mining  and  metallurgical  organization  and  was  the  guiding 
spirit  of  that  organization  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  remarkable  developments 
all  too  inadequately  set  forth  here. 

If  Anaconda  gained  its  position  of  leadership  among  the  mining  enterprises 
of  the  world  by  reason  of  its  vast  natural  resources  and  advantages,  it  has  held  and 
strengthened  that  leadership  by  reason  of  able  management. 

The  management  which  saved  the  tailings  piles  and  slime  ponds  against  the 
day  when  a  process  of  recovery  might  be  discovered;  which  built  up  the  world's 
foremost  research  laboratories  and  so  directed  their  efforts  that  such  a  process  was 
found  and  applied;  which,  with  plenty  of  cheap  coal  at  hand,  looked  forward  and 
encouraged  the  development  of  a  source  of  power  so  much  more  economical  and 
efficient  that  it  saves  $3,500,000  to  $4,000,000  in  the  annual  power  bill;  which, 
by  dogged,  persistent  experimentation  with  new  processes,  has  evolved  a  way  to 
recover  zinc  from  Anaconda's  ores  at  an  annual  profit  of  $1,400,000;  which,  by 
adding  improvement  to  improvement  succeeded  in  raising  the  net  recovery  of 
copper  from  seventy-seven  to  ninety  per  cent ;  to  such  a  management,  as  much  as,  or 
more  than  to  Anaconda's  wonderful  natural  resources,  belongs  the  credit  of  bringing 
about  the  New  Anaconda. 


ONE  OF  ANACONDA'S  IMPORTANT  SOURCES  OF  POWER 
The  Montana  Power  Company's  Hydro-Electric  Station  at  Mauser  Lake. 

31 


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